This invention relates to a light with a switch. More specifically a light connected to a magnetic switch for mounting about a door and frame.
Bedded vehicles such as pickup trucks are often retrofitted with a rigid cover such as a truck cap or tonneau cover over the bed. When such a covering is mounted to the bed, it is desirable to add a light on the inside of the cover to illuminate the interior of the bed when the cover or cap is open. A switch is also desired to turn the light on and off either at the will of the operator or when the bed is opened and closed. Current industry standards provide such a light by mounting a twelve volt light fixture on the bed cover and use either a single pole single throw (SPST) rocker switch that allows the user to turn the light on and off or to activate the light by placing a plunger style switch on the rear window frame or cover support structure whereby the switch is turned on and off by opening and closing the cover.
There are problems associated with each of these current industry standards, however. The SPST switch is inconvenient because an operator must find the switch and manually turn it on to activate it, which can be inconvenient in the dark. The plunger style switch is difficult to install because the installer must control the specific location and factory set, preloaded throw distance of the switch. Because the distance between the vehicle bed and a cover varies from one manufacture to anotherxe2x80x94ranging from approximately 0.25 inches to over 0.75 inchesxe2x80x94each installation, if possible at all, requires the installer to specially locate the switch so that a closed cover will actually turn the light off. Because of the standardized size of the plunger switch and the variable distance between the rear window frame or cover support structure and the closed position of the cover, installation of a plunger type of switch sometimes may not even be possible to produce the desired on/off results.
The invention herein presents a light fixture with a magnetic switch interposed between the light and the power source. The magnetic switch is located near the cap/frame interface with one switch part affixed to one of the cap or frame and the other switch part affixed to the other of the cap or frame. The magnetic switch and light fixture are wired such that when the magnetic field of the magnetic switch is disturbed the light will be turned either on or off. The magnetic switch allows for installation of the light and magnetic switch combination to provide on/off switching of the light when installed on doors and frames where the distance between the door and the frame can vary.
An object of this invention is to provide a light fixture that is easily installed on a vehicle with a door or lid thereon, regardless of variable distances between the door and frame when closed, and which allows the light to turn on when the door or lid is opened and off when the door or lid is closed. Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided below.